What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, well, we gotta talk about Arizona State. The stakes may be higher than you think.
FOR THE GOOD OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS …
… the Arizona State Sun Devils must beat the Texas Longhorns on New Year’s Day. Notre Dame beating Georgia is also acceptable.
But something must be done for the good of college football fans.
The discourse after the first round of the College Football Playoff got toxic. I wrote about it last week. The losses by Indiana and SMU brought out the SEC naysayers, many of which unfortunately work for ESPN, who should be interested in a compelling playoff and not the same-old, same-old when it comes to the postseason.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum took his jab at it. So did Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin, who was successful jabbed back by Fox’s Joel Klatt and current ESPN employee Dick Vitale. Fox’s Tim Brando hit back at the SEC afterward, too.
Related: Lane Kiffin Continues to Complain About College Football Playoff Field
ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit basically said Indiana didn’t belong after its loss and he caught flak for it, along with a stand-up he did with Linda Cohn on SportsCenter. Other ESPN talking heads took shots at the CFP committee, too.
Of course, they had little to say after Ohio State curb-stomped Tennessee, but hey, they’re not used to the SEC, you know, losing, I guess?
But, as I wrote a few weeks ago, there is a reason why the SEC is getting this treatment. The league has, on some level, earned it:
“The SEC gets the benefit of the doubt because, let’s be honest — in the BCS/CFP era the SEC has won 15 of the 26 national championship games. You win like that and that’s the benefit you get. The worm doesn’t truly turn until the Big 12 starts making as much noise in the playoff as it did on the socials this week.”
That was after the league fought back against more SEC narrative, including through its social media accounts and through commissioner Brett Yormark, leading up to the Big 12 Championship game.
That’s why this game has importance, national title implications aside. The perception of the Big 12, and for that matter the preferred treatment the SEC gets in the media, won’t change until someone beats them that isn’t in the Big Ten.
You know the Big 12’s only playoff win is TCU’s win over Michigan, right? For now, the Wolverines are not in the SEC.
Now, you don’t need to go fly the Big 12 flag like Kiffin has been cheering on the SEC the last month (it’s rather embarrassing for him, frankly). It’s really in Arizona State’s hands. It’s up to the Sun Devils.
In the 12-team playoff era, the Big 12 is going to get more shots at this. The sooner a league member takes down an SEC team on the big stage the sooner the narrative changes.
The league gets its first shot on New Year’s Day. Let’s see if the Sun Devils shoot that shot.
Pop-Tart Drama
For the second straight year a Big 12 team won the Pop-Tarts Bowl, this time Iowa State. For the second straight year the Pop-Tarts Bowl sucked viewers in like no other bowl game.
I’m not sure a bowl game has done a better job of mastering how to get people and viewers to watch what is essentially a glorified exhibition game in such a short amount of time.
Related: Three Biggest Takeaways From Iowa State’s 42-41 Win Over Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl
This game isn’t just a “Hey, come watch our winners eat an enormous Pop-Tart” anymore. It’s graduated to so much more.
They created a new trophy that is, in fact, an ACTUAL toaster.
Frosted Strawberry took one for the team last year, as Kansas State ate an enormous Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tart after the game. You remember, right?
Well, Frosted Strawberry was everywhere.
But, he wasn’t just “gone but not forgotten.” Nope, the folks at the Pop-Tarts Bowl, well, resurrected Frosted Strawberry in the EXACT condition Kansas State left it last year. He lorded over the game from the scoreboard in one of the end zones.
It even got the Art But Make it Sports Treatment.
This time around, there was no chosen one, so to speak. Three Pop-Tarts vied for the honor and they introduced themselves during pre-game.
Bowl leadership and fans got a game worth watching, as Iowa State beat Miami, 42-41, as the Cyclones scored the game-winning touchdown in the final minute. At one point the Pop-Tarts Bowl account was taken aback by all the scoring.
It wasn’t just about toasting a massive Pop-Tart, either. The players got to dump mini-Pop Tarts on coach Matt Campbell after the game.
Well, not only did Iowa State win the game but Cinnamon Roll Pop-Tart followed his dreams and was, well, consumed.
We’re going to have to cover this game at some point. And hands off Frosted Cherry, just for future reference.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
